While it is true that many Chicago suburbs have streets with no pavements, Chicago itself does have pavements on most of its streets.

In much of Chicago, the best way to get around will be to use what everyone calls "The L" (elevated railway- though parts of it are actually tubes). The "L" is actually named the CTA, so look for CTA signs, not "L". Note that CTA also runs buses at street level. Most of these don't go to Chicago's attractions and you could easily get lost.

While it is true that many Chicago suburbs have streets with no pavements, Chicago itself does have pavements on most of its streets.

In much of Chicago, the best way to get around will be to use what everyone calls "The L" (elevated railway- though parts of it are actually tubes). The "L" is actually named the CTA, so look for CTA signs, not "L". Note that CTA also runs buses at street level. Most of these don't go to Chicago's attractions and you could easily get lost.

In the US, emergency calls are not 999 nor 112, It's 911.

So it's best to take the the "L" instead of the bus if you're a tourist?

As I sit eating in a restaurant in Florida, it occurs to me you should be aware of another American peculiarity.

In the States, it's considered bad manners to eat from a fork in your left hand. When you're done cutting something (usually with knife in right hand and fork in left), you are expected to switch the fork to your right hand before taking a bite.

I know they do that -- but is it really bad manners to do otherwise, or just slightly odd?

(I recall, growing up, being told that either American or British was acceptable in Canada, and I chose British as it seemed like a more efficient way of getting all the food into my mouth. Apparently my tendencies were already well set by childhood ...)

__________________Criticism is so often nothing more than the eye garrulously denouncing the shape of the peephole that gives access to hidden treasure.

As I sit eating in a restaurant in Florida, it occurs to me you should be aware of another American peculiarity.

In the States, it's considered bad manners to eat from a fork in your left hand. When you're done cutting something (usually with knife in right hand and fork in left), you are expected to switch the fork to your right hand before taking a bite.

Seriously, it's a thing here.

Whaaaaaaat. But... but... the left hand is the fork holding hand, the right hand shouldn't be involved with the fork at all...

Whaaaaaaat. But... but... the left hand is the fork holding hand, the right hand shouldn't be involved with the fork at all...

and in that process you also have to put the knife down somewhere, which I often find to be a bit awkward (balancing it on the edge of the plate, only to have it slide into the mashed potatoes or something). I suppose it should slow down eating, which they tell us is a good thing ... but probably not a big selling point on this board

__________________Criticism is so often nothing more than the eye garrulously denouncing the shape of the peephole that gives access to hidden treasure.

I don't know what odd people y'all have been around but I can assure you it is not rude or bad manners to eat with whatever hand you choose. I have travelled far and wide across this country and have never heard of such a thing. Truthfully no one gives a fat rat's ass how you eat as long as you're not snagging it from their plate.

I don't know what odd people y'all have been around but I can assure you it is not rude or bad manners to eat with whatever hand you choose.

Or, in some cases, both hands. From what I've noticed, Americans seem to eat more things with their hands (e.g., fried chicken) than Europeans do. In some places, come to think of it, just about everything except soup is a finger food.

__________________
Now all you women,
Don't you come around
Unless you weigh
'Bout fo' hundred pound...
-- Dr. Feelgood & the Interns

As I sit eating in a restaurant in Florida, it occurs to me you should be aware of another American peculiarity.

In the States, it's considered bad manners to eat from a fork in your left hand. When you're done cutting something (usually with knife in right hand and fork in left), you are expected to switch the fork to your right hand before taking a bite.

Seriously, it's a thing here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeThinker

My girlfriend's mum in South Tennessee looked at me funny when I didn't switch hands, but Southern Hospitality stopped her from saying anything.

Apparently, you also shouldn't cut off more than one bite at a time. For all I know, that rule may apply elsewhere as well.

Andrew, I don't know what in the world you're talking about. That's VERY old school Miss Manners etiquette school for girls type of stuff. Nothing the rest of the normal folks really notice or care about

Bless your Heart

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeoGibson

I don't know what odd people y'all have been around but I can assure you it is not rude or bad manners to eat with whatever hand you choose. I have travelled far and wide across this country and have never heard of such a thing. Truthfully no one gives a fat rat's ass how you eat as long as you're not snagging it from their plate.

This....don't reach to get someone else's food- that gives them free reign to stab you in the hand with their fork...and nobody will feel sorry for you

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

"The longing of my heart is a fairy portrait of myself: I want to be pretty; I want to eliminate facts and fill up the gap with charms."

"See these eyes so green, I can stare for a thousand years, Colder than the moon
It's been so long and I've been putting out fire with gasoline"

Andrew, I don't know what in the world you're talking about. That's VERY old school Miss Manners etiquette school for girls type of stuff. Nothing the rest of the normal folks really notice or care about

Bless your Heart

I think I may have been told what. Did you just tell me what? Felt like a what-telling to me. What was told, and you were the one doing the telling. A telling of what was delivered by you to me. Well, I guess what can't tell itself, so someone had to tell me what...

I don't know what odd people y'all have been around but I can assure you it is not rude or bad manners to eat with whatever hand you choose. I have travelled far and wide across this country and have never heard of such a thing. Truthfully no one gives a fat rat's ass how you eat as long as you're not snagging it from their plate.

Why do I get the feeling that this information was sho-nuff 'sure enough'?

Now this is an issue I have helluva lot of experience with in the transatlantic context.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreeThinker

In the States, it's considered bad manners to eat from a fork in your left hand. When you're done cutting something (usually with knife in right hand and fork in left), you are expected to switch the fork to your right hand before taking a bite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeoGibson

Truthfully no one gives a fat rat's ass how you eat as long as you're not snagging it from their plate.

Both are true from my experience.

"Good manners" in the US is indeed to first cut things and then eat them with your fork in the right hand. (As is by the way not putting you spoon fully in your mouth when eating soup, but sipping from the side).

But these etiquette rules are no big issue in the US - and it is very unlikely being called out on them.

In Europe - despite differences from country to country, the basics are the same - table manners matter. They are one of the first distinctions on how "civilized" you are. And partially they also have to do with the fact, that hunger and rationing still subconsciously exist in collective memory, making food a more valuable item that needs to be handled with care.

So Loopy's parent did the right thing and thaught her to eat with knife-right hand and fork-left-hand.

I once witnessed a scene in a Brussels restaurant (so not Paris!), where the chef kicked an American NATO guy out of his restaurant. He had cut up his meat - and also mushed it up with sauce and vegetables - to then eat it only with his fork. On kicking him out, the chef stated that the guy's way of eating showed "no respect for the food and for his work as chef".

Reminds me of a joke I heard of an American serviceman on a crowded train in England. He couldn't find a seat anywhere on the train, but one seat held a very small dog belonging to a very snooty woman.

The serviceman asks the lady if he could have that seat. The lady replies, "No. My Fifi is using it. Find another."

So the serviceman walks the length of the train again, looking in vain for an open seat. He finds himself back at the seat with the dog.

"Please Ma'am," says the soldier "I have been all up and down this train, there are no other seats. I'm very tired, please may I use that seat?"

The lady looks him up and down, sniffs, and just says "No." in her haughtiest voice.

The serviceman thinks a moment, then opens the window, chucks the dog out and sits down. The lady starts screaming but he just ignores her.

An older English gentleman, watching this whole interaction, leans across the aisle to say to the soldier,

"I say, you Americans do everything backwards. You drive on the wrong side of the road, you use your knife and fork with the wrong hands, and now you've gone and thrown the wrong bitch out the window."

Not so much the current generation, but my girlfriend isn't the only one whose family is 'old school'.

Loopy, do your thing your way. We North Americans tend to think the English know the classy way to do anything, anyway. Work it.

It's been my experience that English folk with the way they speak and do things will be as much of a fascination to the Americans as we are to them. Kind of fascinating to see that people think we care so much about the knife/fork thing....when I tend to think most of the world sees us as a little boorish. But then again, I'm definitely "working class" American...family never had time to worry about such nonsense. We worry about employment and paying bills and such. Seems way more important than judging how someone cuts their meat.

BTW Andrew, I have traumatized a few folk when I sometimes use a knife and fork to eat a piece of pizza. Especially the Jersey folks- you're supposed to "fold" your slice to eat it. Kind of ruins the taste for me. "Real Italians" and all their pizza shops up in Jersey...kind of laid down the law of eating pizza there, I suppose.
I really want to know how the Chicago people prefer to eat the deep dish pizza....

Quote:

Originally Posted by LumpySmile

Reminds me of a joke I heard of an American serviceman on a crowded train in England. He couldn't find a seat anywhere on the train, but one seat held a very small dog belonging to a very snooty woman.

The serviceman asks the lady if he could have that seat. The lady replies, "No. My Fifi is using it. Find another."

So the serviceman walks the length of the train again, looking in vain for an open seat. He finds himself back at the seat with the dog.

"Please Ma'am," says the soldier "I have been all up and down this train, there are no other seats. I'm very tired, please may I use that seat?"

The lady looks him up and down, sniffs, and just says "No." in her haughtiest voice.

The serviceman thinks a moment, then opens the window, chucks the dog out and sits down. The lady starts screaming but he just ignores her.

An older English gentleman, watching this whole interaction, leans across the aisle to say to the soldier,

"I say, you Americans do everything backwards. You drive on the wrong side of the road, you use your knife and fork with the wrong hands, and now you've gone and thrown the wrong bitch out the window."

Awesomeness

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

"The longing of my heart is a fairy portrait of myself: I want to be pretty; I want to eliminate facts and fill up the gap with charms."

"See these eyes so green, I can stare for a thousand years, Colder than the moon
It's been so long and I've been putting out fire with gasoline"

Now this is an issue I have helluva lot of experience with in the transatlantic context.

Both are true from my experience.

"Good manners" in the US is indeed to first cut things and then eat them with your fork in the right hand. (As is by the way not putting you spoon fully in your mouth when eating soup, but sipping from the side).

But these etiquette rules are no big issue in the US - and it is very unlikely being called out on them.

In Europe - despite differences from country to country, the basics are the same - table manners matter. They are one of the first distinctions on how "civilized" you are. And partially they also have to do with the fact, that hunger and rationing still subconsciously exist in collective memory, making food a more valuable item that needs to be handled with care.

So Loopy's parent did the right thing and thaught her to eat with knife-right hand and fork-left-hand.

I once witnessed a scene in a Brussels restaurant (so not Paris!), where the chef kicked an American NATO guy out of his restaurant. He had cut up his meat - and also mushed it up with sauce and vegetables - to then eat it only with his fork. On kicking him out, the chef stated that the guy's way of eating showed "no respect for the food and for his work as chef".

Far as the soup thing goes, I've always been told to actually USE the spoon (as opposed to picking up the bowl and drinking out of it) and not to "slurp". My mother is the child of English & Scottish immigrants. Not making rude noises (don't let your straw make that noise when you hit the bottom of your drink)was always a bigger deal than how you held the silverware.
She did say that her Mom was superstitious about laying the silverware on the plate "criss crossed". Her mom would slap her for that....hence, it is something I still won't do....lay my knife/fork crisscrossed. Odd how things from the other side of the world turn out, eh?

Main thing Loop may need to remember is that we're a "melting pot" here. SO many difficult cultures merged together...what's "important" to one group of people may go unnoticed by others.

__________________
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

"The longing of my heart is a fairy portrait of myself: I want to be pretty; I want to eliminate facts and fill up the gap with charms."

"See these eyes so green, I can stare for a thousand years, Colder than the moon
It's been so long and I've been putting out fire with gasoline"